Institute of Transportation, MOTC

      Taiwan will enter a super-aged society in 2025. Due to the evolution of medical technology, the number of the elderly that can act autonomously in the transportation system are increasing. However, the gradually deteriorating physiological functions increase the risk for the elderly to ride motorcycles and leads to a higher probability of accidents. In fact, the death toll from traffic accidents for the elderly has exceeded 40%, demonstrating the urgency of improving the traffic safety. In Taiwan, sidewalk construction and public transportation are unevenly distributed between urban and rural areas. The inadequate traffic infrastructures force elderly people with degraded driving ability to still use motorcycles as their main means of transportation, and the limited mode choice has gradually worsened the traffic environment for them. Therefore, the design of a new scooter that meets the needs of the elderly and takes safety as the priority is required to decrease the traffic accidents resulted from improper operation.
    In the past, the research related to domestic and foreign traffic safety mostly focused on road design and accident characteristics. However, this research focuses on analyzing and investigating the design considerations of motorcycles, to alleviate the high motorcycle accident rate among the elder users. Since the road environment is shared by the public, the use of new types of vehicles should involve the rights and interactions of multiple groups. Therefore, this study will comprehensively consider the matters that are valued by all stakeholders, such as the needs and characteristics of the elder users, the current technology and cost of the manufacturer, the laws and regulations and the impact on general users. By analyzing and investigating opinions and correlations of different positions, this research will conclude the required considerations of designing the new type of elder-friendly motorcycle.
    Through the AHP framework established in this study, it is known that the importance of various aspects and evaluation criteria for the development of new elderly-friendly motorcycle is relatively important in terms of ease of operation, driving qualifications, driving stability, road environment and vehicle type.